Family's near-miss during park picnic

A CENTRAL Victorian family’s summer holiday in Warrnambool came within centimetres of tragedy yesterday when a large tree limb fell across a picnic table at Lake Pertobe.

Amazingly, the only casualty was two-year-old Riley Broadbent, who received minor cuts to his arm when a large section of a melaleuca tree crashed as he sat near his parents Darlene and Alan Broadbent and siblings William, Lauren and Ben, along with the Homan family, also of Trawalla.

Two ambulance crews and a policeman arrived, expecting the worst, to find the startled families almost unscathed. Riley was given first-aid treatment at the scene.

The tree at the western side of the reserve is believed to be at least 25 years old.

It is understood to have snapped off at a rotted section of the base.

Warrnambool tourism services manager Peter Abbott said it was a rare incident which would be investigated thoroughly.

“All the trees are inspected every year and we will continue to maintain the gardens to a high standard,” Mr Abbott told The Standard yesterday.

“Lake Pertobe is Warrnambool’s most popular attraction and is used by thousands of people. It continually gets a lot of positive comments on Trip Advisor.”